NORTH DARTMOUTH, MASS. 10/20/12 – UMass-Dartmouth jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and held on to defeat Keene State College 3-1 in a Little East Conference field hockey game played in North Dartmouth on Saturday.

Looking to move up in the LEC standings, Keene State (11-7, 8-2 LEC) remains in third place in the standings while UMass-Dartmouth (12-5, 10-0) continues to lead the LEC.

Cory Connolly scored two goals and Taryn Cardiel also found the back of the net to give the Corsairs a 3-0 halftime lead.

Falling behind the Owls came out firing in the second half.  Sophomore Marisa Lemoine (Berlin, N.H.), scored the Owls lone goal, her 11th of the season, in the second half.  Freshman Lyndsie Rabenius (North Hampton, N.H.) picked up and assist on the goal.

Keene State outshot the Corsairs 17-8 and had a 12-8 advantage in penalty corners, but had a hard time getting the ball past UMD goalie Lauren O'Brien, who finished the game with 12 saves.

Sophomore Caitlin Davino-Draper (Hanover, Mass.) started in goal for KSC and made two saves.  Freshman Chloe Audesse (Goffstown, N.H.) played the final 18:51 and didn't register a save.

Keene State is at Smith College on Thursday (4 p.m.).